Sofa-bed construction



Oct. 2, 1951 LQWRY SOFA-BED CONSTRUCTION Filed May 22, 1948 IN V EN TOR. M55215: Lowe),

IQTTOENEY.

Patented Oct. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOFA-BED CONSTRUCTION Hubert Elza Lowry, Gardena, Calif. Application May 22, 1948, Serial No. 28,679

3 Claims. (Cl. 5-45) This invention relates to furniture construction and, more particularly, to convertible furniture, such as a sofa bed or combination couch or chair and bed structure.

Various types of convertible furniture have heretofore been proposed for serving as both a chair, sofa, divan or couch and a bed. Such structures are designed to provide a base having the dimensions of an' ordinary couch or sofa and in some instances, a chair with the seat and back sections of the device connected in such a manner as to permit the back portion, which is normally in an upright position, for use as a chair, couch, etc., to be disposed in a common, horizontal plane with the seat when a bed is desired.

All of these prior structure's known to me employ some kind of articulate connection between the base and back and seat portions. Usually such articulate connections are referred to as trolley hinges. The operation of these prior devices is dimcult and laborious, necessitating lifting and shifting the seat portion and thereafter moving the seat and back portions into alignment. In most instances, the seat must be raised and shifted bodily into a new position in a horizontal plane while the back member is laid down.

Other structures have made efforts to eliminate some of the numerous shifting operations as well as to provide locking means for locking the seat and back in selected positions, as well as to provide spring counterbalances tending to assist movement of the elements during the shifting of the unit from one position to the other.

Aside from the difficulty in operating the prior devices, such devices employ a large number of parts ch are diflicult 'to assemble and render the article costly. Moreover, the prior hinge mechanisms known to me are connected to the back member of the article of furniture at a low point and at some location forward of the rear plane of the back member, which location renders it difficult to properly support the back of the device in normal position, as well as move the same to a common horizontal plane with the seat.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide means for normally supporting the back member of a couch or chair in upright position and permit the back to be moved to and from a common horizontal plane with the seat with the use of a minimum number of parts and without shifting the seat.

Another object to provide hinge means for converting a chair or couch into a bed which may be easily manipulated by unskilled persons without danger of the seat or back becoming misaligned during the conversion of the article from one position to another.

Another object is to provide convertible furniture so constructed as to inherently bias the structure into such position as may be selected without the use of brackets, latches, looking means and the like.

A further object is to provide means .for supporting the back member of a piece of furniture normally in upright position relative to the seat of the furniture, which means will be connected to the upper rear of the back member and sup- The above and other objects will be apparent,

throughout the further description of the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts. It is to be understood that the drawings are not a definition of the invention but merely illustrate certain forms by means of which the invention may be eifectuated.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a rear view of a combination couch,

and bed embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV--IV of Fig. 3.

Referring to thedrawings, there is disclosed a combination sofa and bed 'having a base, repre sented in its entirety by H]. The base l0 may include a suitable rectangular, box-like structure having front and rear walls I I and I2, respective- .ly, end walls 13 and I4 and a bottom, so that the base may be used for storage of bedding. The base In is supported by end arm rests I5 and I6, together with intermediate feet I! carried centrally by the bottom of the front and rear walls H and 12. The ends [3 and M of the base 10 are spaced from and connected to the side arms I and I6, respectively, by stop blocks 8 and I8 disposed at the lower front and rear inner corners of the arm rests I5 and it. The blocks I8 and I8 may be connected to the ends 53 and I4 and arm rests l5 and |6 by any suitable means, such as nailing or otherwise that will properly support the base H3 in rigid, fixed relation with the arm rests I5 and Hi and the arm I5 and I6 having front and rear supporting feet 20. The blocks |8 and H) are designed for filling two separate offices, which oflices will be later described.

The base l0 supports a seat IS. The seat l9 may be of any desirable construction and arranged to be supported in a horizontal position upon the upper edges of the front wall H, and

A back member 22 of any suitable construction is provided and novel means, represented in its entirety by 23, is arranged to normally support the back 22 in an upri ht position, as illustrated in Fig. 2 and to transfer the same to and from the upright positionto a position substantially disposed in a common, horizontal plane with the seat l9 and forwardly thereof, as indicated by the broken lines 24 in Fig. 2.

The U-shaped member comprises, in effect, two L-shaped legs joined hv the horizontal section or shaft 25. Each of the L-shaped legs has a lower short leg portion 2'! connected to or merging with the longer. upwardly directed leg portion 29, the lower and upper portions forming an obtuse an le. Shaft 28 may be pivotally or turnably iournalled in transverse rails of the base in any suitable manner.

The u per ends of the leg portions 29 (see Fig. 1) terminate ininwardly extending horizontal pivot portions 34 for pivotal connection with support ng brackets 35 carried by the rear face of the back member 22 and ad acent the top thereof as clearly depicted in the drawings. It can now be understood that the back 22 is turnable about an axis passin throu h the inwardly extending horizontal portions 32 0f the legs 28, as indicated at 36, which axis is parallel to the axis of the shaft 26. It will also be noted that the back 22 extends laterallv outwardl from the planes of the supporting legs 29 so that the supporting legs 29 op osed to the rear of the back 22 will limit the clock ise movement of the back 22 about the axis 36. The back rests on the upper leg portions and completely conceals them from view from the front. The short leg portions 27 rest upon the blocks I8 to limit rearward movement of the le s. Leg portions 29 are of sufficient length and the upper ends thereof are pivotally connected to the back at positions to permit the back 22 to be moved to the right. as viewed in Fig. 2, and the back simultaneously rotated about the axis 36 in a counterclockwise direction to assume a horizontal position and in substantially the same plane forward of the seat I9.

It will also be noted that the axis 35 will revolve about the shaft 25 in a circular arc, as indicated by the broken lines 31. Therefore, the back 22 will be initiall raised upwardly from its normal position to a point past a perpendicular plane passing through the shaft 26. This permits the lower end of the back 22 to clear. the

4 cushion l9 and to afford ready access for gripping the bottom of the back 22, rotating the same about the axis 36 and pulling it forward to the position, as shown by the dotted lines 24.

The blocks l8 and I8, aside from connecting the base l0 with the arm rests l5 and 6, are utilized to support the supporting legs 29 in either of their two operating positions and accordingly support the back 22 in like positions.

The front blocks l8" are-provided with flat, horizontal, upper-faces upon whichthe opposing surfaces of the legs 29 rest when the back 22 is in the forward or bed position, as shown by the dotted lines 29, while the blocks It in the rear of the supporting structure are provided with anupper beveled face corresponding to the opposing surface of the legs 21. When the back 22 is in its normal, upright or sofa position, the axis 36 on which the back 22 is turnably supported lies in a plane to the left of the shaft 26 and accordingly the back 22 will retain this positionbecause'of its own weight, and also, when the back 22 is shown in the position as indicated at 24 intFigi. 2,. the back 22- will retain this position relative to the supporting legs 29 because of its own weight.

as viewed in the dotted lines in Fig. 2, for pre venting clockwise movement: ofthe back 22 about the axis 36.

The legs 38 may be connectedby a shaft 39,-

the latter being journaled' in brackets 4| or any suitable two-position hinge. In other words,

the members 4| may be any one of the conven tional types of hinges for maintaining an ele-' ment'in two positions, such positions being at degrees one to the other. In this instance, in one of such positions, the legs would be paral-' lel and flat against the rear or bottom of the back 22 and in the other position would be vertical, as shown in dotted lines, as indicated at 42 As explained above, the back 22 will be maintained in its normal, upright position due toits own weight. and the back 22in an extended, horizontal relation with the seat |9 will maintain its position due to its wei ht, together with I In some instances.- due extended position to u right'position. Also. it may be desirable 'to provide means for biasingback member 22 towardits upright position, thereby facilitating the replacement of the back member into sofaposition.

In the present construction,sthere is" provid ed a single means for accomplishing these three features. The means consist of a-rodjor handle 44 havingits lower end'rimdly fixed to the-shaft 26 and its u per free. end connected by means of a spring 45 to a-transverse rod 46' carried by the end member 3 and partition 3|. Similar spring means may be provided at each end. It will be noted that partition 3| extends between front and rear walls II. and 12' respectively and is spaced inwardly from end wall |'3 by the width of -supporting"memher 2|; Partition 3| vides a, journal "33 of suitable construction to turnably support shaft 26-. A similar partition 32 (see Fig. 1) is disposed at the other end of base I0 in like manner, being spacedinwardly; :frozn endwall 14., w

In thelast instance, supporting legs 38 are. turnablymounted adjacent the forward end of the seat,-

pro-

During the operation of moving the back 22 from its upright position to its forward extended position, the initial tension of the spring for biasing the back 22 counterclockwise about the shaft 26 is not appreciable. Therefore, the resistance during the initial movement of the back 22 in a clockwise direction against the tension of the spring 45 is negligible, and as soon as the axis 36 upon which the back 22 is supported passes a vertical plane passing through the shaft 26, the weight of the back 22 will be counterbalanced by the spring 45 to the extent of reducing the weight of the back 22 during its further movement to the extended position, as indicated at 24.

When the back 22 is in its extended position, the tension of the spring is in such direction as to be ineffective. However, when the back is raised to be returned to its upright position, the

spring 45 will then materially aid in the lifting r of the back 22 by its tendency to rotate the shaft 26 in a counterclockwise direction Some of the important features of the invention are the simplicity of the mechanism for converting the devicefrom one article to another; the ease and fool-proof manner in which the conversion takes place; the few parts of which the mechanism is composed, which does not only render the article economical to manufacture but practically eliminates any upkeep or adjustment of the working parts.

Accordingly, there is provided furniture construction wherein a chair or sofa may be easily converted into a single, horizontal bed which construction is neat in appearance, durable, efficient and satisfactory for the purpose for which it was designed. It will be noted that the seat of the article of furniture need not be tilted or moved in any manner when the furniture is being converted into a bed. Moreover, the back member does not have to be tilted back about a pivotal axis near the bottom of the back (when the furniture is being converted to a bed) and it is not necessary to move the furniture away from a wall as is the case in most prior devices.

While I have illustrated and described certain preferred forms of the present invention, it will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, substitutions, modifications, ad-

ditions and omissions may be made in the forms illustrated and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A combination sofa and bed including a supporting base, a seat carried by said base, a back for said seat normally supported in upright position at the rear of said seat, means turnably carried by said base and pivotally connected to the rear surface of said back for moving said back from its normal upright position to a position forward of and in substantially horizontal relation with said seat, side arms positioned adjacent each end of said base and block members adjacent the front and rear ends of said base for connecting said base to said side arms, the said front and rear block members including supporting surfaces for cooperating with said means for supporting said back in either of its two said positions.

2. A combination sofa and bed as stated in claim 1, wherein said means includes a shaft turnably carried by said base having a pair of integral leg members lying in planes perpendicular to said shaft and extending rearwardly of said back whereby said leg members are concealed from view from the front of said sofa and bed.

3. In a combination sofa and bed, including a base frame having transverse rails and a seat normally supported by said base frame, the provision of: a U-shaped member having a horizontal section journalled in the transverse rails of the bed frame and a normally vertical upwardly extending leg at each end of the horizontal section, each leg including an upper portion and a short lower portion at an obtuse angle to the upper portion and a horizontally extending pivot portion directed toward the opposite leg; an upright side arm connected to each end of the base frame; blocks carried. by the rear of the base frame, said blocks including an inclined face arranged to contact and support the short lower leg portions with the upper leg portions extending rearwardly at an angle to the vertical, said blocks spacing the base frame from the side arms; a back pivotally connected at its upper rear to the horizontally extending portions of the legs and resting against said legs when in normal position; and supporting blocks carried by the forward portion of the base frame and arranged to support the upper portions of the legs when said legs are moved into a horizontal plane.

HUBERT ELZA LOWRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 94,656 Schwaab Sept. 7, 1869 851,565 Sherman Apr. 23, 1907 1,043,552 Van Derzee Nov. 5, 1912 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 132,252 Great Britain Jan. 13, 1921 

